Emtec delays $449 Eee PC fighter

SYDNEY: Emtec has delayed the local launch of their upcoming Eee PC competitor, the $449 ‘gdium’ EM-PC by up to two months, saying the July launch date could now be as far back as September.

Speaking to Current.com.au, a spokesperson for Australian distributor IMC Australasia said, “It looks like we’re going to miss the first shipment that rolls off the manufacturing plant. We won’t be in the market for a little while after that.”

He said as a result, while it was a guess at this stage, the launch could end up “being August, but might slip to September.”

The company’s website lists the computer’s launch date as being July, and has been taking pre-orders for the device.

Despite the delay, and offering the EM-PC through the IMC website, the spokesperson said IMC was looking for retail channel distributors.

The EM-PC is aimed at students and comes with an 8.9-inch screen and uses a 1 GHz 64-bit processor and 32mb video card.

In what could be a unique move, the computer will not have any on-board memory or even a pre-installed operating system, with both the approximately 3 GB of memory and Linux-based operating system stored on a security-coded USB key, called a ‘GKey’.

When questioned on possibility of losing the GKey, especially as the device is marketed to students, the spokesperson said a customer could apply for a replacement [at a cost] via the product website as long as they have proof of purchase and have registered previously when they first purchased the computer.